Pictured in the photo are: Front row, Clarissa, Daniel, Ruth, and Peter; Second row, Orson, John, Edward; Back row, Harriett and Enoch.

Clarissa Amelia Cornia was born October 13, 1857, in Bountiful, Davis, Utah, the first child of Peter and Ruth Clarissa Carter Cornia. She was given the name of Clarissa Amelia after her grandmother, Clarissa Amelia Foster Carter, who had died in Pittsfield, Pike County, Illinois, from privations and sickness suffered by the saints. To her parents were born eleven other children. Clarissa was always called Clara. She was short in stature, had brown wavy hair, very blue eyes and was cheerful and pleasant by nature. She was very industrious; she could find so much to do there never were enough hours in the day for her. She was a friend to everyone and always was loved and highly respected by all who knew her; her family though they were blessed with the best mother in the world.

When she was seven years old she left Bountiful with her parents who had been called to settle Kamas, Utah; and then from there in 1869 to West Point, Nevada to the "Dixie Mission". After being there two years, her parents were released and they returned to Bountiful. From there they went to Woodruff, arriving there in 1871.

When Clara was seventeen, she married Savannah W. Clarke Putnam. She and Savannah made the trip to Salt Lake with her parents. They stopped at Castle Rock the first night and Bountiful the fourth. They were married in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City on May 18, 1874.

Clara was active in the ward. She sang in the choir and taught in the different organizations. When her mother was president of the ward primary, Clara was her first counselor. She also held positions in the Relief Society.

The day before her twenty first birthday, Savannah married his second wife, Ane Marie Josephine Nielson. Clara was a witness to the marriage in the Endowment House.

The following children were born to Clara and Savannah: Clarence (stillborn), Laurence Artemas, Clara Ruth, Louise May, Savannah Ezra, Harriet, Peter Cornia, John Melvin, Ernest, Edgar and Delia.

As Clara's family grew older, there were no means of earning a livelihood and so she and some of the members of the family moved to Salt Lake. They were able to find employment and Clara was busy and happy maintaining a home for them. From then on she made her home most of the time in Salt Lake City. She would return to Woodruff in the summer to help on the ranch during the haying and threshing season.

She was faithful in attending her church meetings; never mission the afternoon meeting at the tabernacle, ward meeting at night or Relief Society on Tuesday.

She had a desire not to live to be a burden to anyone. It would seem the Lord granted his desire as two weeks before her 64th birthday, on September 25, 1920, she passed away after a short illness. On September 28, 1920, she was buried in the Bountiful City Cemetery, Bountiful, Utah.

• Taken from the book "The First 100 Years in Woodruff"

Parents:

Peter Cornia 1829 - 1887

Ruth Clarissa Carter Cornia 1836 - 1920

Spouse:

Savannah Western Clarke Putnam 1851 - 1941

Children:

Clarence Putnam 1875 - 1875

Savannah Ezra Putnam 1882 - 1980

Harriet Putnam Cooper 1883 - 1971

Peter Cornia Putnam 1885 - 1923

John Melvin Putnam 1888 - 1963

Created by: A.Bell

Record added: Nov 16, 2011

Find A Grave Memorial# 80535048 _____________________________

FROM ANOTHER SOURCE:

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Clarissa, or Clara as she was always called, was born October 13, 1857, in Bountiful, Davis County, Utah. She was the first of eleven children born to Ruth Carter and Peter Cornia. She was named for her maternal grandmother, Clarissa Amelia Foster Carter, who had died of privation and sickness suffered in the early days of the Church.

Clara, three of her brothers and a sister spent their first happy years in Bountiful, a place they all loved dearly. In 1864, her parents were called by the Church to go to Kamas Prairie, a new settlement that is now known as Kamas, Utah.

Kamas was a desolate place at that time and Peter immediately began building a house with logs hauled from the canyons. The settlers also had to build a fort to protect themselves from the Indians who were numerous in this new area.

The children had few toys to play with, but Clara had a rag doll her mother had made for her and she carried it everywhere. When Orson and Oslo, twin boys, were born to Ruth on July 9, 1865, Clara was happy to have these two little babies in the home. She was then eight years old and a big help to her mother.

Soon after the birth of the twins, three-year-old Frances became ill with scarlet fever. Ruth and Peter, terribly worried, decided to take her to Bountiful to a doctor. The whole family went by team and wagon and the neighbors offered to care for their place until their return. The doctor did what he could, but Frances died September 22, 1865, and was laid to rest in the Bountiful cemetery. It was a very sad family that returned to Kamas. Less than a month later, October 22, Oslo, one of the twins, died also. He was buried in the Kamas cemetery.

Clara's parents worked hard to plant and cultivate their farm and care for their small herd of cattle. Ruth made and sold butter and cheese. They remained in Kamas four years and were faring quite well when, in 1868, they were called to go to Nevada and help settle the town of West Point, located in the area known as the Muddy Mission.

Clara was eleven years old when they made this move. She was an excellent swimmer, so it was her job to swim across the Virgin River to make sure it was safe for the wagons to cross. They had to cross the river seven times on the trip to West Point. They finally arrived at their destination December 23, 1868, after having traveled for one month.

Peter and two of his sons, Peter, age nine, and Daniel, age seven, began immediately to prepare a shelter for the family. They dug into the river bank, then pulled the wagons alongside to make a temporary protection. The very next day they chose a site and began building a large room of long ash limbs driven into the ground, then woven with willows and plastered with mud. Bundles of reeds were piled on top for a roof, but in the intense heat, the willows and reeds soon dried out and when it rained the water came through. With the floor of dirt, one can imagine the mess they had when it rained.

Life went on and everyone worked hard to make this desolate spot a home. July 8, 1871, Ruth gave birth to a little girl whom they named Harriet. Clara was happy to have another baby sister; she had missed Frances so much. Shortly after the baby was born, Peter bought a lot. This piece of ground was situated on a small hill near the center of the town. On this lot he built a two-room adobe house. Peter was a clever horticulturist and in no time had a garden planted, trees set out for shade and a lovely flower garden. Everything grew fast and it wasn't long until they were eating from their own garden.

After the people in West Point built a sawmill, the Saints in the mission decided it was time to build a church where they could all gather together to worship. Peter was one of several men chosen to go to Salt Lake City to see about materials for the building project. While he was in Salt Lake, word came to Saints in the Muddy Mission that they were released and would have three weeks in which to pack up and move.

The people were not sorry to leave. The climate was hot and things grew very fast, but there was no market for their produce and money was scarce. The Indians would steal from them, then come and try to sell things back or trade for fur or hides. By the end of three weeks they were packed and ready to leave. Before they got out of town, they looked back and saw their home in flames. The Indians had set it afire. This happened December 3, 1870.

They hoped to settle again in Bountiful. En route to their new location they traveled to Pine Valley, Utah, to the home of Ruth's aunt, Sophia Burgess. She welcomed them with open arms and they were grateful for her home because Clara had become very ill with a fever. They remained at Aunt Sophia's until March 20, 1871. Clara had recovered, but the fever had caused her to lose all her hair. Upon arriving in Bountiful, they received another call, this time to settle Twelve Mill Creek, located about twenty-five miles from Evanston, Wyoming. This new settlement, later called Woodruff, is located in Rich County, Utah.

They soon bought ground on the main street and Peter began again to build a house this one a two-room log cabin.

Clara was a small, attractive girl, only five feet two inches tall and slightly built, and by the time she was sixteen she was a very popular young lady. She loved to dance and knew all the latest dances. One of her admirers was a young man by the name of Savannah Clark Putnam. Savannah was a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the state of Maine. He had come to Woodruff with his friend, another convert. Later he sent for his father and mother and until their deaths, all lived in Woodruff and were active members of the Church and community.

Clara's love affair with Van, as he was always called, grew until by the time she was seventeen she decided she was ready for marriage. They came to Salt Lake City and were married at the Endowment House on May 18, 1874. When they returned to Woodruff, Clara cooked her own wedding supper to which all the adults in Woodruff were invited.

Their first home was a log cabin on a ranch on Woodruff Creek. March 23, 1875, a son was born, but he lived only a few days. They named him Clarence. It was a sad experience for Clara to see her firstborn laid in a coffin and buried in the Woodruff cemetery. One year later, March 17, 1876, a second son was born. They named him Laurence Artemas. He was a strong, healthy child and the pride and joy of both his grandfathers. A year later, on April 6, 1878, they had a daughter whom they named Clara Ruth. About this time, Van decided he should take a second wife, but this was a hard decision for Clara to make. Having only the bare necessities of life, it was difficult to think of sharing them with another wife and family. Ruth's sister, Harriet Lee, had a young woman named Anne Marie Nielsen working for her, a girl who was a convert to the Church from Copenhagen, Denmark. Van had become acquainted with her and thought she would be one who could share his life. At first Clara was sick at heart about the matter and prayed sincerely for understanding. Finally she felt that everything would work out and that Anne Marie would be a good companion for both of them.

October 12, 1878, the day before Clara's twenty-first birthday, Van and Anne Marie, or Maria, as everyone called her, were married in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. When they returned to Woodruff, they both lived in the same home. No woman ever lived in more harmony with another than did Clara and Maria. Clara tried in every way to be a companion to Maria. Both women tried, and succeeded in making the plural marriage a success. From then on, the family had a child almost every year. Clara became the mother of eleven children; Maria had six. All but Clara's first child lived to marry and have families of their own.

When the law found out that Van was living in polygamy, they were after him. He moved Maria to a small ranch in Salt Springs, Wyoming, a border town to Utah. This was in 1893 and she lived there until 1896. Clara remained in Woodruff. The United States marshal kept after Van and he spent many worrisome days trying to keep out of sight. One Sunday morning the family were all in a wagon on their way to church services when they saw the marshal standing in the road waiting for them. Van got out of the wagon, told the family to go on to church and turned himself over to the marshal. When he appeared in court in Ogden in November, he was fined one hundred dollars and sentenced to thirty days in jail. He went from court to prison. Clara stayed on at the ranch in Woodruff and arrangements were made for Maria to be cared for. It was a lonely Christmas that year.

Clara had delivered another baby in September. With all the household chores and the care of the other younger children, she really had her hands full. Laurence was then fifteen. It was up to him to tend the stock, see that the cows were milked and keep the house supplied with firewood. He had a little help from his younger brother, Ezra, eight years old, and his sisters Clara Ruth, age thirteen, and May Louise, age eleven.

Clara and Van's children were all interested in music. Laurence and Ezra played in the town band and also in a dance orchestra. Clara Ruth played the organ in church and later, Harriet, or Hattie, took her place. The three girls sang together at socials and in later years all three sang in the Tabernacle Choir in Salt Lake City.

Clara's and Maria's later years were a little easier. Maria stayed in Woodruff on the ranch, but as Clara's children grew older, they came to Salt Lake City either to work or go to school, so Clara rented a house in Salt Lake and kept house for them.

In 1917, Van sold the ranch and bought a piece of ground in Woods Cross, Utah. There was a five-room house on the property and Van built another smaller house. Maria and three of her children moved into the larger house and Clara and Van lived in the smaller one. They lived happily there until Clara's death September 25, 1920, caused by a ruptured appendix. Clara's funeral was held in the chapel at Woods Cross September 28, and she was laid to rest in the Bountiful cemetery.